[TR] Mount Thompson / Thomson- 7/20/2004

[Alpinfox]

Puny vehicle = Toyota Echo

 

Am I doomed?

 

Yes. You are doomed to hike the commonwealth trail.

 

You would need a high-clearance vehicle to get around the concrete blocks. (I should have taken a picture of it.) If you take an arsenal of tools such as a shovel, pick axe, and chain saw, and put in a bit of work you could probably get your car around the blocks though. Ever done any road/trail construction?

[chucK]

That Kendall Lakes "shortcut" is BS anyway. You save some elevation gain, but you gain a bushwhack, some of which is through clearcut slash. You don't really save much time considering it takes at minimum 15 minutes extra driving time to get up there.

 

And if you're gonna climb Thomson, just save the weight of the rope and rack and do the East Ridge (might want to bring a very short (30') chunk of rope or webbing to get down one bit right at the top. Thomson is a nice scramble, but a very marginal rock climb.

 

If you want a cool, easy, uncrowded alpine rock climb, check out N Ridge of Foggy Peak or Sawhorse Tower. Both in the Monte Cristo area and in the green Beckey guide. Approach times probably similar to that of Thomson.